Anatoly Malykhin willing to fight Reinier de Ridder and Arjan Bhullar on the same card: “Two fights in one night”

Reigning ONE heavyweight and light heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin is looking sharp and confident ahead of his ONE middleweight MMA world title match with Reinier de Ridder in the headliner of ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

Malykhin is gunning for history as he wants to become the first athlete in ONE Championship to capture three world titles in as many different divisions. ‘Sladkiy’ wants to do it in front of the sold-out crowd at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

Ahead of his championship rematch with ‘The Dutch Knight', the Russian knockout artist appeared on the South China Morning Post’s YouTube channel for an interview.

Among the talking points was the possibility of him fighting de Ridder and Arjan Bhullar on the same fight card, claiming that he would do it in a heartbeat and that he could also pull off victories against them.

Anatoly Malykhin confidently said:

“Yes, I’m ready [for a rematch with Bhullar]. I’m ready for history time. I’m ready to fight two fights in one night.”

The Golden Team representative is coming off a vicious third-round finish of Bhullar in their ONE heavyweight MMA world title unification bout at ONE Friday Fights 22 last June.

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Anatoly Malykhin’s coach, John Hutchinson, is confident he could score another KO victory

Malykhin is not the only person who believes that he could produce another brutal and highlight-reel knockout against de Ridder in their impending world title rematch. His boxing coach, John Hutchinson, is also expecting it from his prized student.

The world-renowned coach has been preparing Malykhin for a ground-breaking feat even before the official fight was even announced.

Hutchinson, who serves as Tiger Muay Thai’s head coach in Phuket, Thailand, had Malykhin in camp with his other student, reigning WBO world super welterweight champion Tim Tszyu.

North American fans with an active subscription can catch the entire ONE 166: Qatar card on Amazon Prime Video on March 1.